Former Deerfield woman charged with animal abuse

February 27, 2013|By Denys Bucksten, Special to the Tribune

A former Deerfield resident has been charged with animal cruelty and neglect after allegedly abandoning two dogs, one which later died, when she moved out of her home on Chestnut Street late last year, authorities said.

Debra J. Jaffe, whose current address is unknown, was stopped in traffic by Palatine Police on Feb. 24 at 10:30 a.m. and taken into custody on an eight-count warrant issued Nov. 13 in Lake County Circuit Court.

Jaffe, whose former address was in the 800 block of Chestnut Street, has been charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, a felony, and misdemeanor counts of cruel treatment of animals and violation of an animal owner's duties.

Jaffe was released after paying 10 percent of a $10,000 bond, and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Lake County Circuit Court on March 13. She could not be reached for comment.

Jaffe could be sentenced to one to three years in prison if convicted on the felony charge, with the possibility of an extended sentence of three to six years, according to Cynthia Trujillo, a spokeswoman for the Lake County State's Attorney's office. Maximum fines of between $25,000 and $50,000 are also possible in the case, said Trujillo.

Deerfield police responded on Nov. 1 to a complaint from a resident of the neighborhood in which Jaffe lived and found doors and window at the home locked. Officers said the floors were covered with feces and saw at least one dog lying motionless near the front door, with no apparent response to the loud pounding on the door, according to a police report. Aided by firefighters and wearing self-contained breathing equipment, officers saw that the dog, a male Westie, had expired, the police report said.

Another dog was found in an upstairs bedroom, still breathing but severely dehydrated and malnourished, according to the report. The dog, also a male Westie mixture, had both eyes swollen nearly shut from infection and dirt, and its fur knotted, tangled and filthy, the report said.

"Nobody likes to see cases like this," said Deerfield Deputy Police Chief Rick Wilk. "You had two dogs abandoned inside a home within a mile of Orphans of the Storm in Riverwoods. The owner could have just driven down the street and Orphans would have been more than happy to have taken the dogs off her hands."